Knockdown barrel.



Patented June 26, I900.

attoznms E. WALTON.

KNOCKDOWN BARREL (Apphcatlon filed Dec 16 1898 I (No Model.)

Witmaaeo wAsumamu u c UNITED STATES PATENT ()FF CE EDWVARD WALTON, OFPENRITH, VIRGINIA.

KNOCKDOWN BARREL.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,305, dated June26, 1900. Application filed December 16, 1898. Serial No. 699,480. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LEDWARD WALTON, a citizen of the United. States,residing at Penrith, in the county of Cumberland and State of Virginia,have invented a new and useful Knockdown Barrel, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to shipping and storing receptacles, andparticularly to those adapted to be knocked down for return shipment inquantities; and the object in view is to provide a receptacle of thebarrel or hogshead type which is light-proof and practically airtight toadapt it for the shipment of tobaccoleaf without exposure todeteriorating influences.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a receptacleconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detailhorizontal section of a portion of the receptacle-wall in the plane ofone of the warpstrands. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one ofthe locking devices for connecting the free ends of the fabric composingthe wall of the receptacle, showing in dotted lines the initial positionof the locking-tongue. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the same. Fig. 5is an elevation of the means for connecting the extremities of thefabric.

- Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawlugs.

The receptacle wall or side is constructed of a fabric consisting of aplurality of contiguous staves or woof members 1,held in their properrelative positions by flexible hoops or Warp members 2, consisting ofstrands of wire, heavy cord, or similar material. The staves or Woofmembers are rabbeted at their side edges to form tongues 3, and thetongues at opposite edges of a stave are arranged, respectively, flushwith the exterior and interior surfaces of the stave, whereby the stavesare of a uniform construction and whereby as the fabric is set up toform a cylindrical wall the relative deflection of the staves from acommon fiat plane causes the inner tongue of each stave to bear firmlyin the rabbet in the contiguous edge of the adjoining stave to form alight-proof and practically air-tight joint. In practice theWarp-strands are preferably countersunk in the inner surfaces of thestaves or are let into transverse grooves therein to lie flush withtheinner surfaces of the staves, and thus provide an unbroken orunobstructed interior surface for the recep tacle. The warp members,particularly between the planes of the terminal heads 4; and 5, areseparated or spaced apart, and each strand is interwoven with the stavesto pass from the inner surface of one stave to the outer surface of thenext or adjoining stave, while the adjacent strands are arrangedreversely to lie in contact with the outer surfaces of those staveswhich are spanned at their inner surfaces by the first-named strand.lhus assuming that the warp-strands are arranged in pairs the members ofeach pair are inter woven in opposite directions with the staves to bearin opposite directions, and thus hold the staves in their properrelative positions. In order, however, to avoid the formation of abruptbends in the strands, the contiguous edges of adjoining staves arenotched or kerfed, and each notch or kerf consists of a out which isonly equal in width to the diameter of a single strand and is formeddiagonally or. with a fioor forming a strandseat, which is inclined ordisposed obliquely to the planes of the inner and outer surfaces of thestaves. Obviously those kerfs 6 which are formed in the tongues of thestaves or in the tongue sides of the staves are deeper or extendinwardlya greater distance than those I (7) which are arranged tointersect the rabbets of the staves or are formed in the rabbet sides ofthe staves. For instance, referring to Fig. 4, it, will be seen that thetongue-kerfs or strand-seats 6 extend from one surface of a stave eitherinwardly or outwardly to intersect the contiguous rabbet at the angleformed by the walls of the rabbet, the kerfs 6 in the contiguous edgesof adjoining staves being arranged to register, while the rabbet-kerfsor strand-seats 7 for the strand which intersects the plane of thefirst-named strand also communicate with the rabbets at the anglebetween the Walls thereof; but the tonguekerfs 6 are of greater lengththan the rabbetkerfs or extend inward a greater distance than thelatter, as shown. The object of my construction is to cause thecooperating warpstrands to occupy planes which intersect at the bottomsor floors of the rabbets or in the planes of those walls of the rabbetswhich are in contact and lie approximately midway between and parallelwith the exterior and interior surfaces of the staves. Each strandseatis of a depth less than the thickness of the stave and approximatelyequal with the depth of the rabbet or the thickness of the tongue, or ifthe depth of the rabbet is difierent from the thickness of the tonguethe depths of'the strand-seats 6 and 7 are respectively equal with thethickness of the tongue and the depth of the rabbet. A further featureof importance in connection with this arrangement of the strands is thatthe width of each kerf being equal only to the diameter of the strandwhich is to lie therein is completely closed by said strand, wherebylight and air are practically excluded and a sufficient flexibility isallowed to adapt the staves to be deflected slightly from a common planeto form a cylindrical wall when the receptacle is set up.

The inner and outer chime-blocks 10 and 11, between which are arrangedthe edges of the heads 5 and 6, are held in place by means of warpmembers located in common planes therewith.

The terminal edges of the fabric constituting the side wall of thereceptacle are secured together by locking devices consisting, in theconstruction illustrated, of levers 12, fulcrumed at intermediate pointsupon swinging loops 13, carried by one end of the wall fabric, andprovided with notches 14 to engage swinging loops 15, carried by theother end of the wall fabric, each lever having a plurality of suchnotches, and locking-tongues 16, pivotally mounted upon said levers tohold the latter in their normal posit-ions. The said strands, wherebywhen the loops are strained by swinging the levers to their normalpositions such strain is applied to the strands to draw the stavestoward each other and main-' tain the contiguous edges thereof in closecontact. The locking-tongues are tapered toward their free ends and areturned or deflected inward at their points to form detents or spurs toengage the outer surface of the fabric and maintain the tongues againstaccidental displace ment. The tongues, as shown, are pivoted forswinging movement parallel with the levers by which they are carried.

To-facilitate the movement of the catch-lever in drawing the edges ofthe wall fabric together, I preferably mount an antifriction roller ortraveler 33, adapted to traverse the exterior surfaces of the staves asthe lever is turned toward its locked position.

No claim is made herein to the locking devices described; but they havebeen illustrated and their construction set forth, as some fasteningmeans is of course necessary to hold the flexible wall in shape to forma barrel or hogshead.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A fabric for thepurpose named, having woof members consisting of staves, and flex1- blewarp members, consisting of strands arranged in different planes andinverwoven in opposite directions with the woof members, the latterbeing provided in their contiguous meeting edges with kerfs formingwarpstrand seats equal in width with the diameters of said strands andfilled thereby, substantially as specified.

2. A fabric for the purpose named, having woof members consisting ofstaves rabbet= ed at diagonally-opposite corners to form tongues, andflexible warp members, consist ing of separated strands interwoven inopposite directions with the woof members, and

; fitting in kerfs or seats, equal in width with the diameters of thestrands, and communicatin g with the rabbets at the angles between theperpendicularly-disposed walls thereof,

. tially as specified. loops are loosely connected with the warp- 4:.Afabric for the purpose named, having woof members consisting of stavesprovided with rabbeted edges forming tongues, and

also provided with transverse strand-seats formed in opposite sides ofthe staves adjacent to their edges, each seat having a portion of itsfloor inclined or oblique and being of a depth less than the thicknessof the stave,

and warp-strands interwoven with the staves and fitted in saidstrand-seats, substantially as specified.

5. A fabric for the purpose named, having woof members consisting ofstaves provided with rabbeted edges forming tongues, and also providedwith transverse strand-seats formed in opposite sides of the stavesadjacent to their edges, each seat being of a depth less than thethickness of the stave, and the seats at the tongue sides of the stavesbeing longer than those at the rabbet sides thereof, and warp-strandsinterwoven with the staves and fitted in said strand-seats,substantially as specified.

Iio

esaeot e 6. A fabric for the purpose named, having the staves and fittedin said strand-seats, sub- 10 Woof members consisting of staves providedstantially as specified. with rabbeted edges forming tongues, and Intestimony that I claim the foregoing as also provided with transversestrand-seats my own I have hereto affixed my signature in 5 formed inopposite sides of the staves adjathe presence of two witnesses.

cent to their edges, the seats in the tongue 1 p EDWARD WVALTONQandrabbet sides of the staves being respec- Witnesses: tively equal indepth with the tongues and W. F. DAVIS,

rabbets, and Warp-strands interwoven with C. M. PALMORE.

